But Google Inc. (GOOG) appears eager to push the boundaries of its PC operating system experiment, debuting its first in-house designed Chromebook. Dubbed the "Pixel", the laptop/Chromebook/ultrathin packs an Intel Corp. (INTC) Core i5 processor and Intel HD 4000 graphics. 4GB of DDR3 memory is also onboard.

But Google's Pixel diverges with the Retina MacBook Pro in other ways. There's a third microphone included, designed to cancel unwanted noise from the keyboard when making video calls. And Google has gone to great lengths to optimized the touchpad's "feel" and the latching mechanism.

While the laptops are similar in maximum thickness (the Google laptop is a hair thicker), they look dramatically different.

A Wi-Fi model of the Pixel ships next week. It packs 32 GB of NAND flash, along with a 1 TB Google Drive subscription (3-year) and an SD slot for expansion. The price is $1,299 USD. In April Google will drop an LTE version, which packs 64 GB of NAND and the same SD/Google Drive perks. That version will fetch $1,449 USD.

Google's app ecosystem is pretty week, but perhaps its shiny new hardware will attract new developer interest. Google showed off a slick touch-friendly Google+ app with the launch materials.

quote: No one who actually knows what ChromeOS is, no. I have to believe ChromeOS is a total non-starter for anyone looking into a OS X/Windows machine. If you can't agree...I don't know what to tell you.

So, you are saying that the Pixel is a laptop for morons?

The Chromebooks have a meagre marketshare. What they do have, they have because they are cheap. Now whilst there might be a market for an expensive Chromebook and that market consists of people who hate windows, hate OSX and a too stupid to buy a cheaper PC and install Linux on it, I have to assume that market is very limited.

Its kinda like saying the old three-wheeled car had a market, so there would be a market for a three-wheeled $100,000 sports car and that since the sort of people who would want to buy such a car obviously wouldn't be interested in buying a Porsche or a Mercedes, then its a totally different market and not worth comparing.

Well, yes, in a really twisted logic kind of way, that's true. But anyone who walked into a board meeting and used that logic would rightfully be laughed out onto the street. Or so you would hope, anyway.

I'm not saying there's a big market for these. But so what? What does Google lose by releasing this product? Nothing that I can see. It's not like they're a laptop manufacturer.

Although I think it should be embarrassing for other Windows laptop manufacturers that Google was somehow able to come out of nowhere with a laptop display that puts 99% of the ones out there to shame.

Still do NOT understand what is so goddamned controversial about this topic. It's ridiculous how polarized DT is over everything.